If you like something…

Author Notes: I honestly can’t remember when or how I learned to prepare this dish as I’ve been doing it for so long. I recall once cooking it in tandem with a Roman friend in the kitchen of a short term let apartment in Chelsea when I was in NY for business. Here I’m combining peak of the season English peas just bursting with flavor along with guanciale from La Quercia. La Quercia is one of the top two or three purveyors of cured pig parts in America http://www.laquercia.us/home/. They use sustainably raised Berkshire pigs from Iowa which have a sublime flavor. It’s well worth your time to seek out their products.
You may substitute prosciutto for the guanciale but ask to have it sliced thick so that you can cut it into small dice. This is as simple but as delicious as it gets if you can pull together the best ingredients.
- pierino

Serves 2

1cup shelled green peas

1/4cup diced guanciale (or prosciutto)

1 tablespoon butter

1 shallot, chopped

1 spring onion thinly sliced

1/4cup heavy cream

Pecorino cheese

A big handful of fettucine

sea salt and black pepper

Add the butter to a hot pan large enough to contain the pasta and the finished sauce. When the butter melts add the guanciale (or prosciutto).

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add kosher or sea salt.

Once the guanciale begins to resemble bacon spoon off excess fat and add the chopped shallot, just to color. Add the cream and stir with a wooden spoon.

Begin cooking the pasta in salted boiling water.

Add the peas to the cream and pig and season with salt and pepper. Keep your sauce simmering but not boiling.

When the fettucine is cooked to almost al dente transfer it directly to the simmering sauce to finish.

Grate a generous amount of pecorino over the pasta. Taste sauce for seasoning and serve.

La Quercia's guanciale is hands down the best domestic version I've tasted. Even better than Armandino Batali's. In fact it rivals the guanciale you will find in Rome. I keep thinking of new uses for it beyond l'amatriciana.